For Rohan Rao, the road to becoming the valedictorian of the Lawrence High School (LHS) Class of 2025 began at home.
It started with his parents, Jay and Nita Rao, who encouraged him to stretch and do as much as he could, while his older sister, Esha Rao, served as a role model and set high standards for him.
Rao said that as a young child, he was interested in learning new things. He was curious and wanted to know more about things.
It was that curiosity and the urge to push himself intellectually that led to taking some of the most challenging classes at LHS. He took more than a dozen Advanced Placement courses in math, history and science.
“It got me to be the valedictorian, but honestly, that wasn’t the goal,” he acknowledged. “I took the classes to challenge myself. You can’t achieve anything if you don’t want to do anything.”
Rao said he especially likes physics. It is important to understand that physics runs the world, and that the things that people do every day depend on physics.
“It’s just around us,” he said. “It’s motion.”
Rao became interested in physics through his interest in outer space. When he became a member of LHS’ Science Olympiad – of which he became the captain – he focused on astronomy.
While Rao is interested in science, his extra-curricular activities spanned from participating in the LHS Model U.N. team to working on The Lawrentian student newspaper. He was the co-editor-in-chief.
Rao also is engaged in volunteer activities. He has been a golf coach for young children and teenagers in the First Tee of Greater Trenton. Young people learn to play the game of golf, but they also learn about life skills, he said.
“It teaches the core values of life through golf,” he explained. “They learn perseverance, cooperation, confidence, courage and respect through each lesson.”
It even helped Rao gain confidence in his ability to speak in public. He also has learned what motivates another person and how to use that knowledge to motivate him or her.
Rao also started a nonprofit called NJSTEM – New Jersey Science Technology Engineering and Math. It is geared toward underserved communities. It teaches science topics that are not taught in school through project-based learning.
For example, through a fun astronomy lab, the children learned how to make their own telescopes.
“They loved it,” he said.
Now that the tassel on his mortarboard cap has been turned to show that his high school career has ended, Rao is headed off to his next adventure. Rao will attend Columbia University in September.
